Retailing

You may think this a stretch, but an article in the March 23 edition of The Economist put me in mind of the CE...

Assured Systems, the dealer-owned buying and marketing group, and Audio/Video Independent Dealers (AVID), a division of the AVB buying group, formally merged in late...

New York metro area CE chain The Wiz has opened its first clearance center. The outlet, which was converted from a standard Wiz storefront,...

Ritz Interactive, an e-commerce affiliate of No. 1 camera chain Ritz Camera Centers, has launched a CE cyber store dubbed RitzElectronics.com. The new e-tail...

High-end specialty A/V chain Ken Crane’s Home Entertainment City is opening a new 14,000-square-foot store here this week. The unit, located in a former...

What may be hot local news in Philly, Denver or Seattle usually doesn’t rate even a mention here in the New York metro area....

JVC Mobile Entertainment launched its first-ever line of CD car receivers specifically created for women to retail stores nationwide, here, earlier this month with...

Sears announced its annual Partners In Progress vendor awards, with seven consumer electronics and major appliance suppliers being cited. Started over 20 years ago,...

VAC Service has expanded and restructured its Teleservices Division, due to strong growth. President/CEO Jim Tucker commented when making the announcement, “VAC’s Canadian operations...

Warrantech has signed a three-year agreement with Wherehouse Entertainment, the prerecorded entertainment and CE retail chain. Under terms of the agreement Wherehouse will begin...

OQO is launching what it considers to be the next evolution of the desktop PC, a 1GB Windows XP-based computer the size of an...

The ability of a digital camera to fit in one’s shirt pocket, call it “pocket-chic,” is quickly becoming the new benchmark of choice for...

Buying groups have long been a force within the consumer electronics retail industry, but they are assuming ever-greater importance to independent dealers as national...

Tweeter Home Entertainment Group has embarked on an aggressive new game plan thats designed to boost its custom home installation business by upwards of...

Franklin Karp has seen the future of super-premium CE retailing, and it is flat-panel TV. The president of Harvey Electronics, New York’s legendary luxury...

Midwest CE and majap powerhouse H.H. Gregg says it plans to expand into the Atlanta market next year with 11 stores and a central...

Get ready to once again play the projection TV (PTV) numbers game. Were PTV sales up in 2001? Were PTV sales down in 2001?...

Circuit City and the MARTA Cooperative have separately announced plans to employ online learning programs for sales associates that are designed to boost sales...

Creating a seamless whole, whereby shoppers can effortlessly glide between storefront, Internet, catalog or telephone access points, has become the Holy Grail for discount...

After ending 2001 on a winning note and enjoying continued strength through the first quarter, NATM dealers expressed confidence during their buying group’s annual...

The MARTA Cooperative of America has added two new members to the fold, bringing the buying group’s dealer roster up to 108. The latest...

STORIS Management Systems has introduced a new database model, built around Microsoft’s SQL Server, that it says will significantly enhance a manager’s ability to...

AVB/Brand Source competed for the first time in the recent Daytona 500 auto race. Veteran NASCAR driver Robert Pressley reportedly gave an impressive pole...

A number of NECO Alliance members are using flat-panel TV displays as a means of expanding their traditional major appliance businesses into the new...

In a contrarian presentation to NATM members during the buying group’s annual meeting here last week, industry consultant Adam Levin urged dealers to downplay...

Thanks to the Enron affair, I am reminded of the story of the retailer who turned his financial statement over to his consultant for...

Most NATM dealers and key vendors who gathered here last week for the buying group’s annual meeting said they’re kicking off 2002 with a...

Grace Post, my partner in Coyote Insight, and I were talking a few months back about the hurdles the industry faces when trying to...

VAC Service Corp., the warranty and extended service contract administrator, has redesigned and relaunched its Web site, www.vacservice.com. According to CEO Jim Tucker, the...

The 2002 International CES had three strikes called against it before it even came to bat, making its unquestioned success a true industry triumph....

FLOOR CARE UPRIGHT VACUUMS Year-Over-Year % Chg. -29.1% Royal Appliance 85550 Eureka 7618AT Royal Appliance 86325 Hoover U4270940 Royal Appliance 88600 EXTRACTORS Year-Over-Year %...

Judging by the growing number of business loan applications dealers are filling out these days with banks and other lending institutions, a major problem...

Retail sales are lagging… component manufacturers are worried about the future… the country is in recession. Yes, we have all read the headlines and...

“As they say at NASA when they are preparing the space shuttle, ‘We’re on the launch pad and ready to go,’ ” said Nationwide...

The North American Retail Dealers Association (NARDA) has begun to interview 150 candidates for its NARDA 21st Century Retail Vision training program. Only 20...

New product introductions at last month’s Consumer Electronics Show were not limited to digital doodads. Among exhibitors presenting innovations were extended service contract providers,...

GERS Retail Systems will hold its 20th annual user conference, Retail World 2002, this Aug. 19-22 at the Westin Horton Plaza, in this city’s...

MIKE LINTON: At Best Buy, we are seeing a huge move to the clicks-and-mortar model. Forty percent of our shoppers at some time of...

TWICE:So what’s up with Good Guys? KEN WELLER: We had good and bad news. The good news is we are in California, and the...

TWICE:Let’s talk product. What’s hot and what’s not? TOM EDWARDS: In television, more than half of the projection sets being sold at retail are...

TWICE:What’s your post-mortem on the holiday season? MIKE LINTON (Best Buy): We saw a slip off starting in September, right after the event. But...

Once upon a time, trade shows were all about writing paper. Retailers would shop a show and, if a vendor had the right product...